Diego Garcia remains a dark British-American secret in the Indian Ocean

When the governments of Mauritius and the United Kingdom issued a associated declaration astatine the opening of this period that they had “reached an historical governmental statement connected the workout of sovereignty implicit the Chagos Archipelago” aft a half-a-century agelong quality and 2 years of nonstop negotiations, Joe Biden reportedly went “so acold arsenic to ‘applaud’ [the agreement] wrong minutes of the announcement!”

The United States president has each crushed to beryllium pleased.

After all, according to this much-lauded agreement, British regularisation implicit the Archipelago’s 60 oregon truthful tiny and uninhabited islands volition travel to an end, but determination volition beryllium nary alteration successful the presumption of its main and astir southerly isle, Diego Garcia, which is hosting a vast, secretive US Navy base.

As portion of the agreement, Mauritius, which gained independency from Britain successful 1968 aft abandoning its assertion to sovereignty implicit the Chagos, agreed that it would let the US basal to proceed operating connected Diego Garcia for the adjacent 99 years – renewable. Under the deal, Chagossians, who were exiled from the archipelago successful the 1960s and 1970s to marque mode for the US base, are allowed to instrumentality to the smaller Chagos islands – but they are inactive not permitted to entree Diego Garcia freely oregon resettle there.

While the woody volition not fulfill the United Nations, which has agelong been calling for the “complete” decolonisation of the Archipelago, oregon Chagossians, who wanted to “return home” without immoderate conditions oregon exclusions, the White House is understandably relieved that an statement has been reached betwixt the UK and Mauritius that allows the US to support the subject installation it has been utilizing for much than 50 years.

Diego Garcia is located successful the mediate of the Indian Ocean, strategically positioned betwixt Asia and Africa. The basal whitethorn beryllium thousands of miles from Washington, but it is wrong flying region of the Middle East, and it has provided the US with important leverage during galore crises threatening US interests successful and astir that region.

After Iran’s 1979 Islamic gyration which overthrew the Shah and redrew the planetary representation of alliances, for example, Diego Garcia underwent the largest enlargement of immoderate US subject determination since the Vietnam War. But the basal has been the busiest successful the contiguous aftermath of al-Qaeda’s September 11 attacks connected the US successful 2001. Within weeks of the attacks, the basal expanded further and welcomed an further 2,000 Air Force personnel.

During the consequent alleged “war connected terror”, hundreds of individuals were captured, transported astir the satellite and interrogated successful concealed prisons nether the auspices of the CIA, but without ineligible oversight. We present cognize that Diego Garcia besides played a relation successful this euphemistically named “extraordinary rendition program”.

For years, however, some American and British officials denied that the basal ever hosted, adjacent successful passing, immoderate “war connected terror” detainees.

When questioned by members of parliament successful 2004, past UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw stated that “the United States authorities person repeatedly assured america that nary detainees person astatine immoderate clip passed successful transit done Diego Garcia.” In a 2005 discussion, helium further claimed that “unless we each commencement to judge successful conspiracy theories (…) determination simply is nary information successful the claims that the United Kingdom has been progressive successful rendition (…).”

However, successful 2007, Dick Marty, a erstwhile Swiss authoritative appointed arsenic an adept by the Council of Europe, reported that helium had “received concurring confirmations that United States agencies person utilized the land territory of Diego Garcia (…) successful the ‘processing’ of high-value detainees”. A fewer months later, UN peculiar rapporteur connected torture, Manfred Nowak, revealed that helium excessively had obtained evidence that Diego Garcia was utilized for the “detention” of “terror” suspects.

In aboriginal 2008, erstwhile CIA Director Michael Hayden said accusation antecedently “supplied successful bully faith” to the UK had “turned retired to beryllium wrong”. The US expressed regret for this “administrative error”. The British authorities had to admit that the assurances fixed by Straw were incorrect and conceded that “two flights had refuelled astatine Diego Garcia, though neither fishy had disembarked”. Later, however, it became evident that the land played a overmuch much important relation successful the program, and the UK knew each astir it.

When the quality committee of the US Senate investigated further the engagement of the land naval basal successful the “extraordinary rendition program”, UK diplomats held much than 20 meetings with Senate members to lobby for immoderate British relation not to beryllium disclosed. The classified Senate study nevertheless recovered that the US abduction and torture programme was established with London’s “full co-operation”.

Later, hopeless to debar immoderate accountability implicit the matter, the UK Foreign Office claimed that documents exposing British cognition of the practices connected Diego Garcia had been mislaid owed to “water damage”. The Liberal Democrats, a British governmental absorption party, however, said they recovered grounds that the authorities itself had systematically destroyed formation logs for Diego Garcia. The ineligible enactment NGO, Reprieve, jeered that “the Government mightiness arsenic good person said the canine ate their homework.”

While the European Court of Human Rights has convicted respective of its subordinate countries for colluding successful enhanced interrogation techniques involving torture astatine “black sites”, neither the American nor the British justness strategy has prosecuted a azygous idiosyncratic for their actions.

Diego Garcia’s uniquely distant determination has enabled the US and its British landlord to shield their operations from the planetary nationalist oculus for decades. The territory, nether British sovereignty, remained a awesome of continued colonialism successful the region. And the US basal determination harmed not lone Chagossians, who were forcefully evicted from their homes to marque mode for it, but everyone who has been affected by the West’s actions successful the aftermath of 9/11.

Thus, contrary to the authoritative narrative, the caller UK-Mauritius woody does not uphold “the planetary regularisation of law” and people a triumph for Chagossians – it alternatively allows the veil of secrecy to support unprosecuted the wrongdoings committed during the “war connected terror”. The agreement, nary substance however it is dressed and presented, further erodes Western credibility and underlines the shortcomings of diplomacy in reigning successful the excesses of predominant powers.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.